Knowledge resources
Comprehensive resources have been developed to address common knowledge needs about e-Learning. These resources, based on extensive research are the first of their kind in New Zealand, will help support organisation leaders, educators and students by providing the best evidence about e-Learning in an easily accessible form. Using these resources also helps to ensure that e-Learning solutions are offered in high-quality, value-for-money, and sustainable ways.
The resources, and the individual research reports on which they are based, derive from the Ministry and its partnerships with Ako Aotearoa, (the National Centre of Tertiary Teaching Excellence), the Tertiary Education Commission (TEC) and New Zealand Tertiary Education Organisations (TEOs).
While funding and support has been provided by the government, this is work that has been prepared for the sector by the sector itself.
Advice for students
Learning in the 21st century videos
To be able to engage and achieve in e-Learning, students need to be fully aware of what e-Learning is, and what it is not. The Learning in the 21st Century videos features New Zealand tertiary students and tutors talking about their views and experiences of e-Learning. These student views and experiences are aligned with the major research findings.
These video clips are also useful for organisational leaders and educators as a general introduction to e-Learning from students’ perspectives.
Advice for educational leaders
Taking the lead: Strategic management for e-Learning guidelines
These e-Learning guidelines have been developed by the tertiary sector as a first-stop guide for chief executives and senior managers of New Zealand’s tertiary education institutions and organisations. Developed in partnership between the Ministry and Ako Aotearoa, they incorporate case studies that highlight how fifteen organisations across the sector are meeting the challenges presented by e-Learning. These guidelines are designed to help leaders consider the contribution they can make to the strategic development and management of e-Learning in their institutions. It is also a useful tool to assist CEO’s and senior managers in their investment planning.
The researchers who developed the guidelines on behalf of Ako Aotearoa and the Ministry were Dr. Andrew Higgins and Emeritus Professor Tom Prebble. The guidelines are available on the Ako Aotearoa website.
Case studies
The case studies referred to above contain many useful insights and ideas for discussion within TEOs.
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e-Learning Maturity Model (eMM)
The eMM is an organisational capability evaluation and development framework that provides a means to evaluate, monitor, and guide the development of organisational e-Learning capability in line with evidence-based good practice at a whole-of-organisation level. This allows institutions to assess, and compare to other similar organisations, their capability to sustainably develop, deploy and support e-Learning.
It is relevant for leaders and is also useful for managers in TEOs who have teaching and learning as their area of responsibility and/or focus, and its related services.
The eMM has been developed by Dr Stephen Marshall and Dr Geoff Mitchell. The initial development of the eMM was funded by the Ministry through two of its research projects. Further information is available from the following Victoria University of Wellington link:
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Advice for Educators
Effective practice bulletins for e-Learning
Educators, involved in e-Learning, identified a need for advice based on evidence-based knowledge to inform their activities. Using this advice helps ensure that e-Learning activities are undertaken in a sustainable, high-quality way that achieves the best outcomes for learners.
To address this, the Ministry commissioned the development of user-friendly, evidence-based information about key aspects of e-Learning to benefit educators and (indirectly) students. This information derives from the synthesis of a range of existing research.
This synthesis was complemented by specific focus groups for tertiary teachers, staff developers and their managers’ that identified their priority knowledge needs. These focus groups also guided the development of the most appropriate and relevant ‘formats’ and ‘styles’ for this advice. Using the feedback from these focus groups a set of bulletins was developed that addressed the following topics:
These research bulletins can be accessed on the Ako Aotearoa website.
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e-Learning Guidelines (eLG)
The e-Learning guidelines have been developed through funding from the Tertiary Education Commission (TEC)and Ministry of Education. They provide evidence-based effective practice guidelines and case studies to inform teaching and learning practice, and its management.
Designed by New Zealand educators they are intended to help other educators improve their e-Learning practice. It is also recommended that they are used as a basis for leaders and managers to consider their staff’s e-Learning professional development requirements. The guidelines are available from Massey University's website.
Advice for organisational leaders, educators and students
Copyright and intellectual property
Copyright and intellectual property issues are becoming increasingly important for organisations, their staff and students through their increasing access to and use of digital content. This section provides advice and guidance on copyright and intellectual property for these key audiences.
Creative commons licences
The report Case Studies - Creative Commons and attitudes to content sharing briefly explores how Creative Commons copyright licenses can be used to manage both intellectual property rights and copyright for organisations and their staff. These licences manage copyright and intellectual property in a way that enables more liberal approaches to digital content distribution, editing and redistribution in tertiary education. If you would like a copy of the report, please email tertiary.elearning@minedu.govt.nz.
Rights Management: Overview and Advice
The OSS Watch website is dedicated to ownership and licensing issues in an open source context.
10 big myths about copyright explained
Brad Templeton's article 10 big myths about copyright explained attempts to answer common myths about copyright seen on the Internet and cover issues related to copyright and USENET/Internet publication.